


Always Yours

by Love_to_Love_Puppies



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-18
Updated: 2018-01-18
Packaged: 2019-03-06 09:06:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13407963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Love_to_Love_Puppies/pseuds/Love_to_Love_Puppies
Summary: He hadn't meant to kiss her, but here he was kicking himself for having screwed everything up the way he always did. She hadn't known he had felt that way about her, but she couldn't deny that her lips still tingled where his had been.A fluffy, domestic, collection about Nick and Judy's relationship and their struggle to be accepted in a world where a predator-prey relationship is nearly unheard of.





	1. Chapter 1

It had always been tied.

His tie that is.

It had been one of his father’s. He had found it in his dad’s closet after he left. It was already tied so Nick never saw a reason to mess with it. Every day when he put it on, he would just adjust it a little and be done with it—it saved him plenty of time in the mornings.

Unfortunately, the silky, black, police-issue tie was not already tied for him.

He had never had anyone to teach him how to tie it. The only one who could have was his dad, but his dad left when he was four. As a result, the past twenty minutes had been spent in front of the mirror, watching Zootube tutorials on tie-tying, and all he had ended up with were misshapen knots.

There was a knock on the door.

“Come in,” he called, his gaze still firmly fixated on the knot in the mirror. Out of the corner of his eye he caught the reflection of the door opening and saw Judy walk in.

“Nick, what’s taking so long, I have to be on stage in three minutes and you need to be down there,” she demanded.

“I can’t tie this stupid thing,” he muttered, still fidgeting with it.

The bunny chuckled.

“Here, let me help you,” she said, taking the silky black tie off his neck, “I can only do it if I do it on myself first.”

She carefully undid the knotted mess and looped the tie around her own neck, expertly folding it into the illusive tie-shape he had somehow failed to grasp.

“Did you already know how to do this when you received your badge, or did you have someone help you?” he asked.

“I knew. I usually have to help the younger kits with their ties whenever there’s a wedding. And considering 238 of my siblings have already gotten married, I’ve had to tie a lot of ties,” she answered simply, her eyebrows pulling together in concentration as she pulled the wider part of the tie through the hole.

She took the completed tie off her neck, and adjusted it so that it would be able to fit around Nick’s much larger neck. She stood on her toes to reach, accidentally getting it caught on his ears.

“Sorry,” she giggled, righting the tie and moving it to its proper place at the base of his neck. She tightened it so it fit snugly beneath the collar of his shirt, her face just three inches from his, her bright amethyst eyes shining with pride.

He forgot how to breathe—no, that’s a lie. All he could _do_ was breathe in the intoxicating smell of her shampoo which was some mix of honey and lavender, he was, however, having some trouble exhaling.

“There you go,” she grinned cheerfully, pulling a piece of lint off his shoulder and flicking it to the floor, “Now get going, or you’re gonna be late.”

“Give me just a minute, Carrots,” he told her, exhaling the breath he had been holding in one gasp that he managed to hide as he cleared his throat.

“Okay, see you down there,” Judy beamed and closed the door behind her.

He took a deep breath, psyching himself up in the mirror. He had never been presented with anything of value, he had never been publicly recognized for doing anything good, much less on a stage in front of a group of people.

To say he was nervous was an understatement.

However, he was not going to let it show.

Never let them see they get to you, that was his motto and he was sticking by it. So, putting on his best confident smirk, he went to go finally get his badge.

The last few weeks of grueling training had been hell. He had barely made it through. The only thing that kept him going—kept him sane—was the fact that Judy believed in him. She reminded him every night when they would talk on the phone before bed. It came to be the thing he looked forward to the most each day.

And, after going through police training himself, he had a whole new level of respect for his future partner.

“You’re late,” Chief Bogo said as Nick rounded the corner in view of the stage.

“I’m one of the guests of honor, how can I be late to my own event?” Nick asked, a smug grin lighting up his face.

Chief Bogo was not amused.

“Just get your ass out there, Wilde,” he ordered, walking away.

“Aye, aye, chief,” Nick called in response, giving a mock salute.

He distinctly heard Bogo muttering under his breath, but he couldn’t make out what was said.

“—real life is messy. We all have limitations. We all make mistakes. Which means, hey, glass half full, we all have a lot in common. And the more we try and understand one another, the more exceptional each of us will be. But we have to try,” Judy was saying into the microphone on the podium on the stage. She was so at ease and so confident on stage.

Nick wedged his way through the group of much larger cops around him until he was standing in the front, she noticed his late arrival and he saw a small smile quirk onto her face.

“So no matter what kind of animal you are, from the biggest elephant, to our first fox,” she continued, gesturing to him.

He raised his sunglasses and gave her a playful wink.

“I implore you, try. Try to make the world a better place. Look inside yourself and recognize that change starts with you, it starts with me, it starts with all of us,” she finished her speech, which was followed by a loud cheer of a hundred different animal noises.

Next, Nick and the other graduates were brought up on stage, one at a time, and presented their badges as a symbol of their graduation. The order in which people were brought on stage was alphabetical by last name, so Nick was the last one to climb the steps.

Judy walked up to him, the decorative box clasped in her paws and gingerly pinned the badge and nametag onto his chest, so as not to stick him with the pin. She took a step back, glancing over him once, her eyes once again filled with pride. She saluted him. He saluted her back. And once more the roar of cheers erupted from the audience.

He threw his cap with the rest of the graduates. For the first time in his life, he felt like he had accomplished something worthwhile.

All thanks to Judy.

He never could have accomplished this, never could have dreamed of it, without her. The moment she came into his life and took him on that adventure in search of night howlers, he knew his life would never be the same.

“It suits you, you know?” Judy asked him at the reception while he was scoping out the dessert table.

“Hmm?” he hummed in response.

“The uniform. It suits you,” she smiled at him, “Oh and by the way, there’s a celebratory party for you all at Chester’s tonight.”

Chester’s is the favorite bar of all the officers in the precinct, largely because Chester, the owner, was a retired cop himself—Bogo’s former partner. He was also known to give everyone in a blue uniform a discount.

“Celebrating our first day as cops by getting ridiculously drunk and making questionable decisions? Sounds great,” he grinned, “What time?”

“Ben said it starts around nine thirty,” she replied, plucking an éclair off his paper plate.

“Hey!” he exclaimed in protest, holding his plate high enough that she could no longer reach it, “There’s a whole table of them right there. These are _mine_.”

She rolled her eyes and got herself a plate, accidentally brushing against his arm in the process. Everywhere her skin touched his sent tiny little electric pinpricks through his body.

“I’m really proud of you, Nick,” she said sincerely.

She told him that a lot—almost every day during training and while he was taking his qualifying tests—but before Judy, it had been years since anyone had said they were proud of him. Not since his mom had died when he was twelve.

His mom would have loved Judy, he knew it. She was the kind of person who loved everybody and she and Judy would have gotten along like old friends. And while he couldn’t be sure, he hoped that his mom would be proud of his decision to be a police officer too.

“Thanks, Carrots,” he replied with a genuine smile.

* * *

 

That night he arrived at Chester’s fashionably late.

“Only you would be late to your own party,” Judy teased when he walked in. She looked amazing, dressed in a simple, black, form-fitting dress.

“Well, I had to walk since you have the cruiser,” Nick said playfully, reminding himself how to speak, “And I’m not _that_ late.”

After all, it was only ten o’clock, the night was still very young.

Judy chuckled, shaking her head and pulling him by his paw into the bar, sending more sparks through his nervous system.

Almost everyone left at around 12:45 or earlier, mostly because a large majority of the officers have families at home and _all_ of them had to be in the bullpen bright and early the next morning.

Nick and Judy were the last two to leave. Judy even started helping the bartender and waitress clean up some of the mess.

“You want me to drive you home?” Judy asked standing up. As she did, she swayed a little on her feet, “Or maybe you should drive me home,” she blinked, trying to refocus her eyes.

Nick wouldn’t say he was drunk, but he was certainly impaired enough not to be driving right now.

“How about I walk you home?” he said.

“M’kay,” she agreed.

He looped his arm around her shoulders, steadying her as they walked to her tiny apartment.

“I never got the chance to thank you,” he said. As they approached her apartment.

“The party was Ben’s idea, so you should thank him,” she said.

“That’s not what I meant,” he said and she looked up at him, her usually violet eyes more of an indigo in the darkness.

“If it wasn’t for you...barreling into my life the way you did, I wouldn’t be here. I would have been pulling the same con for the next twenty years until someone _did_ manage to arrest me. If I hadn’t met you, I never would have had the courage to do this. And if it wasn’t for your support, I never would have gotten through it. So, thank you,” he told her, squeezing her closely to him.

She hugged him tightly, nuzzling her face into his side.

“I should be the one thanking you,” she said, “If you hadn’t stood up for me, if you hadn’t helped me with the nighthowler case, I would have had to turn in my badge and go home.”

She looked up at him again, her eyes reflecting the orange street light nearby.

Suddenly, he leaned down and kissed her. Judy froze, too surprised to react.

It took all of one second for Nick to realize what he had done.

“Sorry,” he said, “Shit, sorry. Um…’night, Carrots,” he told her before practically sprinting home to his apartment.

“Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit,” he repeated over and over to himself once he closed the door to his apartment behind him, “I can’t believe I fucking kissed her.” He slammed his fist down on the linoleum countertop, rattling the dirty dishes in the sink.

“How the _fuck_ am I gonna come back from that,” he muttered, plopping down on the ratty arm chair in his living room.

He had known for a while that he was in love with her. He had come to that somewhat jarring realization the night before he left for training camp, when she had fallen asleep with her head in his lap. It was then that he realized exactly how much trouble he was in, because he absolutely could not picture his life without her.

He had managed to convince himself that it didn’t matter, that it would never work between them, that she didn’t like him that way, and that he could continue being her friend and her partner without ever letting on how deeply he cared for her.

Evidently, he had been wrong because now he had gone and fucked everything up.

He kicked a few cardboard boxes, missed, and stubbed his toe on the coffee table.

“Fuck!” he exclaimed, getting up to get a beer from the fridge. After all, he knew he wouldn’t be able to go into work tomorrow; he wouldn’t be able to face her after tonight. He took his tie off and it accidentally came undone in the process.

“Dammit,” he cursed again. He balled up the piece of long fabric and threw it onto the adjacent couch.

There was a knock on the front door, probably one of his neighbors telling him to stop making so much noise. He ignored it and popped the top off the bottle with one of his claws.

There was another knock. More insistent this time.

“I’ll be quiet. Go the fuck away,” he called.

They knocked again, this time a steady stream of knocks giving him no choice but to get up and answer the door.

“Wha—” he started but a gray ball of fluff in a black dress pushed passed him into his apartment.

“Nicholas Piberius Wilde, how dare you run away!” Judy asked, throwing her arms up in outrage, “How dare you kiss me and then just run away!”

“I just—” he tried to respond.

Her eyes narrowed on the beer in his hand.

“Oh, and let me guess, you weren’t going to come into work tomorrow either,” she crossed her arms, “You were going to skip your first day of work and waste months’ worth of training because of a kiss? Honestly, Nick. It’s okay, it was just an accident—”

“It wasn’t an accident,” he interrupted. He wasn’t sure he was really ready to have this conversation now, but he knew he didn’t have much of a choice unless he wanted to spend the rest of their partnership hopelessly pining over her.

She paused and looked at him.

“I mean, I didn’t mean to kiss you at that moment, necessarily…but…” he trained off, unable to meet her eyes.

“…What?” she asked. This is not how she had expected this conversation to go. She had had a whole rant planned out but it died on her lips right then and there.

“I…I think I’m in love with you, Judy,” he said, still not looking at her, “And I’m sorry. God, I’m so sorry. I honestly didn’t mean to screw this all up. I didn’t mean to kiss you tonight. I was perfectly fine with pretending that everything was normal…okay, maybe not fine, but I was willing to do it because I didn’t want things to change between us. I mean, you’re my partner and my best friend and—”

He felt a paw on his paw and met her beautiful eyes again.

“You dumb fox,” she said with a small smile, before reaching up to touch his face and pressing her lips to his. He reacted immediately, wrapping his arms around her waist as she wrapped hers around his neck.

“So I guess that means, we’re okay?” he breathed against her lips with the ghost of a smirk on his face when they broke apart.

“Of course,” she smiled, “It takes a lot more than that to scare me off. I mean, I’m not gonna lie, I was really surprised. But…I love you too, Nick.”

Surprised was an understatement. She had stood, frozen, under that streetlight for a solid minute after he had run away. She had no idea he felt that way about her; he had never given her any indication. Before now she had never even entertained the possibility of them together, but she couldn’t deny that she _did_ love him. Totally and completely. He was her best friend, the person she depended on, someone she would die for and who would die for her, her partner. 

But that first kiss had changed things.

After she had come to her senses, her rage-filled march to his apartment gave her time to process how she felt about it. Her lips had still been tingling but she didn’t want to admit to herself that she had liked it because she was not willing to put their friendship in jeopardy if it had just been some alcohol-induced accident on his part.

Now that she knew his feelings, now that she had kissed him again, she knew that there was no turning back.

“So what do we do now,” Nick asked, pulling her onto his lap on the couch.

“I don’t know,” she shook her head, “But whatever we do, we do it together,” she said, slipping her paw into his. The digits of his paw interlaced with hers.

“People are going to talk,” he said.

And people would talk. A lot. And they likely wouldn’t be too nice about it either. After all, they were different species, which, in itself was considered taboo. But, on top of that, they were a predator-prey relationship, which was next-to unheard of, and would likely be the cause of much debate and scandal.

Her parents, she knew, would have a _very_ difficult time accepting her and Nick.

“Let them talk,” she smiled, “I’m not afraid of a challenge.”

He knew that. It was part of what he loved about her. Whenever she had her mind set on something, she charged headfirst.

He kissed her again.

“It’s late,” she whispered breathlessly after a while, standing up, “I should be getting home.”

“Are you crazy, it’s 3:30 in the morning,” he said, “You can stay here tonight.”

“Nick, I am perfectly capable of walking home alone,” she argued. It was later than she thought. She had arrived at his apartment at 2:45 which meant that they had been kissing for nearly forty-five minutes. However, the late hour of the night did not diminish the fact that she could, _and would,_ walk home alone.

“ _I_ wouldn’t want to be walking alone at this time of night,” he told her, “I’ve associated with the sleazebags of the city, remember? They’re not the kind of people you want to meet in a dark alley at 3am. Especially not a cute, little, bunny.”

She glared at him.

“I have a gun,” she patted her purse.

“And I have a couch,” he mirrored her stance.

“…I don’t have anything to wear,” she said, running out of arguments.

“I’ll give you something to sleep in tonight and we can drop by your place in the morning so you can change,” he gave her a look that said he wasn’t budging from his stance.

“Ugh, fine,” she relented.

He gave her a t-shirt and a pair of his boxers to wear to bed. And, after an extended argument about who would be the one sleeping on the couch, Judy laid down in Nick’s bed, while he curled up on the couch. She considered asking him to join her in the bed—not to have sex, just to share the bed. But it was too soon, they had only begun “dating” an hour ago and she wasn’t used to the idea enough to already be spooning.

His scent was all over the bed. She hadn’t taken much notice of it before now, but she liked it. It was a musky, comforting scent, that made her feel at home. She easily drifted off to sleep.

That night she dreamt of Nick in a way she had never dreamt of him before.

Nick also fell asleep quite effortlessly, listening to the sound of her light snoring in the other room. A content grin crept onto his face right before he fell asleep. She loved him too.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning he woke up extra early to make her breakfast.

“Morning,” he greeted her when she walked out into the living room.

“Pancakes?” she asked in response, her nose twitching. She yawned and rubbed her eyes. He had almost forgotten that she had gone to sleep in his t-shirt and boxers, it was definitely something he could get used to.

“Yeah, but we don’t have much time to eat since we still have to stop by your apartment,” he told her.

“Oh yeah. Work. I feel like we only got two hours of sleep,” she yawned again, pouring syrup on the pancakes.

“That’s because we _did_ only get two hours of sleep. It was 4:00 when we went to bed last night and it’s… 6:10 now,” Nick replied.

“Do you have any blueberries?” she asked. At home, her dad would make pancakes every Sunday morning before church, she would always have blueberries on top. The pancakes tasted bland without them.

“Yeah, I think so,” Nick answered, rummaging through the refrigerator, “Here, these should still be good. They’re the ones you gave me last week.”

“Thanks,” she smiled, sprinkling a handful over her pancakes and taking a bite, “So, I had a dream about you last night.”

“Oh yeah?” he smirked, tearing off a piece of pancake and dipping it into the syrup, “Anything interesting?”

“Mmmhmm,” she hummed, giving him a sly look.

“Is that _all_ you’re going to say,” he asked.

“Mmmhmm,” she hummed again.

“Then I guess I’ll have to use my imagination,” he breathed next to her ear, giving her chills.

What surprised her most was how normal this all felt already; her waking up in his clothes, him cooking her breakfast. Even the suggestive flirting didn’t weird her out the way she thought it might, then again, they had always been remarkably flirty with one another. 

 “Damn, my back hurts,” he complained as he stood up to put his plate in the sink.

“Hey, you can’t complain. I offered to take the couch,” she pointed at him with her fork, as she set her plate in the sink too.

“And give you these spine problems? Never,” he grinned at her, “Now go get dressed we have to leave soon if you want to make it to work on time.”

She slipped her dress back on. Even if they hadn’t had sex left night, it still felt very much like she was making the walk of shame—from a fox’s apartment no less. If her parents could see her right now, they would probably have a heart attack.

“Nick, can you zip me up?” she asked, holding her dress up, walking into the living room, where Nick was already dressed in his uniform—once again, minus the tie. She was surprised he hadn’t kept it tied the way he usually did with his other one. It occurred to her that it might have something to do with the angry and frustrated state he came home in last night.

“Okay,” Nick replied, acting like it was no big deal. But he was only acting. He swallowed as he traced the zipper up her bare back and secured it with the hook-shaped clasp at the top. “There,” he cleared his throat, “Perfect.”

Judy, who had heard him gulp as he pulled up her zipper smirked to herself. It wasn’t easy to make Nick uneasy and she took some satisfaction in that.

“Here, let me tie your tie for you,” she said, once again taking the tie from his neck and putting it around her own. When she had it folded correctly, she slipped it over his neck, adjusting it under the collar of his blue shirt. She tightened it for him, then pulled, using the leverage to bring him down to her level so she could kiss him.

“Sly bunny,” he chuckled when she pulled away.

“Dumb fox,” she hummed smugly.

He locked his apartment door behind him and they started the walk to her apartment complex. They were mostly silent, not an awkward silence, just a thoughtful, tired, silence.

It gave her a chance to think.

Now that all the alcohol was out of her system, the idea of letting other people find out became a little bit more daunting. This wasn’t like the time she had dated “bad boy” Jimmy Hareing in sixth grade as a mediocre form of rebellion against her parents—because Jimmy was a rabbit. Even if her parents didn’t like Jimmy, her dating Jimmy wouldn’t start a national controversy and be featured on The Today Show with Cattie Lee Kitford and Hoda Okapi.

That didn’t mean she was ashamed of dating Nick—she wasn’t. If anyone asked she would tell them straight-up. But she needed time to…adjust.

“We should have just enough time to swing by Chester’s and pick up the cruiser before work,” Nick mentioned as they walked to her apartment.

“Okay,” she answered.

“You alright, Carrots?” he asked her.

“Is it okay if we don’t tell everyone yet,” she asked him.

“Sure,” he answered immediately, but he couldn’t deny that he felt a little bit hurt. Judy noticed.

“It’s just…I need time to get used to us before we start telling everyone, okay?” she slipped her paw into his.

He liked the way she said “us.”

“Of course,” he replied squeezing her paw a little, “Whenever you’re ready.”

They stopped in front of her apartment and she ran upstairs to change.

“Is she just getting in now?” she heard one of her noisy neighbors say through the wall when her apartment door closed behind her.

“Guess the little bunny had a wild night,” the other neighbor replied.

She rolled her eyes and got dressed in her uniform. His scent was still all over her from having slept in his bed. She hoped that that wouldn’t draw too much suspicion—(all of her co-workers have keen senses of smell, of course)—especially considering it was not the first time she had come to work smelling like him.

The night before he left for training camp, she had decided that they needed to spend some time together, so they had movie night at his apartment. She had fallen asleep with her head in his lap.

She had woken up the next morning to find that he was now laying on his back, and she had her head on his stomach, with the rest of her body between his legs and his arms wrapped around her. It was…comfortable.

She hadn’t thought too much of it at the time—she had been too preoccupied with the little twitches Nick’s paws were making in his sleep. But now she wondered if he had positioned them like that, or if they had snuggled into each other’s arms on their own.

Regardless, she had gone to work that next morning—after seeing him off on the train—with all of her co-workers wondering why she smelled like predator. Now that they had met said predator, they were far less concerned for her safety.

She wiped off last night’s makeup which had gotten smudged all over her face, and put on some fresh eyeliner and mascara, before running back downstairs.

“In the time it took you to get ready, I saw three separate people piss on the sidewalk. You need a better apartment,” Nick said, “And that’s coming from me—and my apartment had four infestations of fleas this year alone.”

“Maybe we could look into getting a better one soon,” she said, then clamped a paw over her mouth when she realized what she said.

“We?” a smug grin spread over Nick’s face.

She sighed, “ _Yes._ Though to be fair, I had that idea before last night. I was thinking we could be roommates, it’s just slightly more convenient now.”

“Knowing you, you’ve already done the research. So, tell me, where are _we_ living?” he teased.

“I found a nice two-bedroom in Zootopia Trails for $568 a month each, not including utilities. Which is actually less than I’m paying now for my crappy shoebox apartment, and it’s a lot closer to work,” she explained.

“Zootopia Trails? Isn’t that those nice apartments right next to the park off fifth?” he asked.

“Yep,” she told him.

“Well, I definitely want to see your spreadsheet before we go apartment-hunting,” he told her.

“So you like the idea of moving in together?” she asked, “I mean, I know that seems kind of fast, but I really was thinking about it before—”

“Shh,” he kissed her forehead, “I like the idea. You know I was thinking—”

“Uh oh,” Judy teased.

“I need to take you out on a date,” he said.

“I mean, technically you have considering the two of us have been out to dinner multiple times,” she grinned.

“True. But it wasn’t technically a _date_ yet, now was it?” he asked.

“I suppose not,” she giggled.

“So what do you say I pick you up Friday night at six?” he asked.

“Okay,” she agreed.

By now the empty Chester’s parking lot had come into view. The only car remaining was the cruiser.

“I’m driving,” Nick smirked taking the key’s off of Judy’s belt.

“No, no, no,” she reached up to grab the keys.

“You drove it to Chester’s it’s my turn,” Nick argued, jingling the keys just out of her reach.

“Fine, then I get it after we get our assignment,” she said, hoping up into the passenger seat. These cruisers were designed to accommodate the much larger cops at the precinct, so for Judy and Nick, they were huge.

“You got it, Fluff,” he said, adjusting his seat and putting on his aviators, “We’ve got ten minutes to make it twenty minutes across town. Do you think that qualifies as an emergency?” he asked, his paw hovering above the button that controls the lights and sirens.

She pursed her lips, “Do it.”

They made it.

They walked into the bullpen and sat down three seconds before Chief Bogo walked in.

He gave the two of them, sitting in the front row, sharing one of the massive chairs, a glance, knowing full-well that they had just pulled into the parking lot with their sirens blaring.

“Alright, alright. Enough. Shut it!” the Chief started, “We have some new recruits with us this morning, including our first fox,” he gestured to Nick, “Who cares.”

“Ha, you should have your own line of inspirational greeting cards, sir,” Nick remarked.

“Shut your mouth, Wilde!” the water buffalo ordered, “Assignments; officers Scuzoli, Fangmire, Delgato: Tudra town SWAT. Snarloff, Higgins, Wolfard: undercover. Hopps, Wilde: parking duty. Dismissed.”

The pair looked at the chief with a mix of shock and outrage.

“Just kidding,” Bogo broke his stern façade for just a second, happy to have pulled one over on his most…troublesome officers, “We have reports of a street racer tearing up Savana Central. Find him, shut him down.”

Under his breath the chief added, “Since we all know you like to drive fast with the sirens on,” as he walked out of the room.

“On it Chief,” Judy hopped out of the seat, stealing the keys to the cruiser from Nick while she was at it.

“Hey, hey, wait a minute. I only said you could have the keys because I thought we would be doing patrol. If we’re chasing a street-racer, I should be the one to do it,” he reached for the keys.

“Uh uh uh,” Judy tsked, “We had a deal.”

“Fine, fine, but we have to stop and get a pawpsicle from Finnick,” Nick told her.

They did.

“Well, well, well, look who went and got himself a badge,” Finnick remarked sarcastically as they approached, “And it looks like you got a upgraded from that stupid-ass golf cart.”

“How you been holding up since I left?” Nick smirked. He had only talked to his former partner a few times since he had gotten back from training.

“It’s been a bit harder now that I’ve got to do it alone, but, ya know, I get to keep all the cash, so I can’t complain much,” Finnick answered. Finnick glanced between Nick and Judy, “So you two fucked yet or what?”

Judy choked on her own saliva in surprise.

“Not judgin,’ just wonderin,’” Finnick added.

“Not yet,” Nick muttered under his breath giving the smaller fox a wink when he thought Judy wasn’t looking.

“But you are dating?” Finnick asked.

“Yep, as of last night,” Judy told him. Nick wasn’t actually going to say anything because he didn’t want to violate his agreement with Judy, so he was glad she had said it first.

“It’s about fucking time,” Finnick remarked, “Not that it makes much of a difference, you’ve had him whipped since the day he met you.”

Nick ignored that comment—though he knew it was true—and grabbed one of the untouched pawpsicles from the stand and licked it.

“You gonna pay for that?” Finnick asked, knowing full-well that he wasn’t, “You’re a good-guy cop now, and stealin’s a crime?”

“We’ll call it even for me not turning you in for everything I know about,” Nick smirked, walking away.

“Fuck you, Wilde!” Finnick called after him, but he was teasing. Finnick would never admit it, but he was happy for Nick.

Judy chuckled, climbing back into the passenger’s seat and pulling out onto the main road.

“So, are all rabbits bad drivers, or is it just you?” Nick teased, nonchalantly licking his pawpsicle.

Judy intentionally slammed on the brakes, propelling Nick forward and getting his frozen treat stuck in his fur.

“Oops, sorry,” she smirked.

“Sly bunny,” Nick chuckled for the second time today.

“Dumb fox,” she responded.

“You know you love me,” he grinned.

“Do I know that? Yes, yes I do,” she smiled back at her partner.


	3. Chapter 3

It had been a long time since Judy had been on a real date.

The last time had been about four years ago. She had forgotten how much preparation went into a date, especially if you expected it to end a certain way. Which is why, in her purse, she had packed her uniform and a change of underwear, breath mints, mascara, lipstick, and, of course, condoms. She had also remembered to wear the “good” bra and panties—a sexy black pair with lace.

Judy wasn’t a stranger to sex, despite what her parents might believe. She had lost her virginity at age fifteen. And, even if she hadn’t been on a real date in four years, she had most definitely had sex. However, all her previous partners had been bunnies, and she was a little nervous for her first time with Nick.

Nick had actually had fewer partners than she did. Foxes tended to be more conservative about mating, and rarely had one-night stands. He had only been with five women in his thirty-two years—also never having strayed from his species before now.

As promised, Nick picked her up at six. Since they were trying to be, more-or-less discrete with their relationship, they had decided that using the cruiser to take them to the restaurant was out of the question. And, since neither of them had a car of their own, they walked.

“Well, don’t you look sexy,” Nick whispered to her.

That had been the goal in selecting her outfit for the evening—a dark blue, empire waist dress that came down to her mid-thigh with a low V-neck.

“So do you,” she replied. Nick had cleaned up nicely, wearing a pair of black dress slacks and a cobalt blue, long-sleeve button-down with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. They coordinated surprisingly well, even though it hadn’t been planned.

He took her to this little Italian place down by the docks, the kind of place that’s just out-of-the-way enough that they likely wouldn’t run into their friends or co-workers.

They were seated, albeit with some skepticism (after all, _everyone_ knew who Judy was) near one of the windows that looked out over the bay. It was dark and the water was an inky shade of black, with the sky only a slightly lighter shade of deep blue. The only lights in the distance were the light house and some passing ships, blinking red and green in the night.

“This is nice,” Judy smiled at him.

“Only the best for you, Carrots,” he replied.

They ended up ordering pasta, wine, and dessert and had stayed until half an hour before the restaurant closed.

Nick covered the bill. He had insisted.

They walked along the boardwalk.

“So what now, Carrots?” he asked her.

“Go back to your place,” she suggested, with a suggestive grin.

“Really?” he asked, a little surprised, after all they had only been dating for six days now.

“As long as you want to,” she said.

“Oh, I want to,” he told her with a smirk, “I’m just a little surprised.”

“You foxes are so prude,” she teased.

“We’ll see how prude I am when I rip off that pretty dress of yours,” he whispered in her ear, giving her chills.

* * *

“You cleaned,” she pointed out when they walked into his apartment.

“I did,” he affirmed. He had spent several hours this afternoon cleaning his apartment and washing the sheets, just in case the date had ended this way.

Judy didn’t waste any time after that, immediately, putting her purse on the couch and wrapping her paws around his neck. He picked her up by the thighs and she wrapped her legs around his waist as he walked them to the bedroom.

He laid her down on the bed and started kissing her neck, meanwhile Judy fiddled with the buttons on his shirt. Soon she had all the buttons undone and she threw the shirt to the ground.

She took a second to admire his physique. He was lanky, but he was toned, she could see the definition of his muscles.

“Like what you see, Carrots?” he asked.

“Yes,” she breathed.

He undid the zipper of her dress and threw the dress to the floor, leaving her only in her bra and panties.

He bit his lip. One week ago, he had to resist the urge to think about her like this. He didn’t want to give in to the fantasies for fear of doing something stupid and messing everything up. Now she was underneath him, watching him with a saucy look that drove him crazy.

“You are so beautiful,” he told her.

She smiled and started undoing the buttons on his pants.

* * *

Having sex with Nick had worked out better than Judy had thought. Everything had _fit_ where it was supposed to, but it was…different than what she was used to, not bad, just unusual.

Bunnies, in general, tended to have sex much more quickly and it tended to be far less intimate. However, sex with Nick was definitely something she could get used to.

Nick had known it wouldn’t be what she was familiar with, so he was conscious about telling her what was happening. He was also terrified that he would hurt her, so he made sure to ask her if she was okay. By the fourth time he had asked her Judy said, “Nick, it’s _good_ , okay? I’m fine. I will tell you if it hurts. Don’t worry,” which made him calm down a little.

Now she laid naked next to him with her head on his chest—completely content.

“Hmm,” Nick hummed.

“What?” she asked in the same dreamy tone, tracing spiral patterns on his fur.

“Just thinking,” he sighed.

“What about?” she asked, snuggling under his arm.

“It’s nothing,” he said, then after a few seconds he added, “Do you ever think about having kits?”

“You mean like now or...” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

“No, in the future,” he assured her.

“Then, yes, of course,” she replied.

“What do you think about?” he asked.

“How many we’d have, what we would name them. You know, that kind of thing,” she told him.

“We?” he smirked.

“Yes, _we._ I _always_ assume that any relationship I’m in is going to be the last one. So I’ve already considered marriage and having kits with you,” she replied, “I hope that doesn’t scare you,” she breathed.

Neither of them knew for sure if it was possible for them to have kits together. It had been accomplished a few times by interspecies couples, but as far as they knew, it had never worked for any of the few predator/prey couples they knew about—then again, there were not enough of them to get accurate results.

It didn’t surprise him that Judy had thought about getting married and having kits. Every time Nick had seen her around a baby, her face would just light up. He knew she would make a great mother.

“I don’t scare that easily,” he kissed her. In truth, he had been thinking the same things, which is why he had brought it up.

It wasn’t until recently—just under a week ago, actually—that he had even pondered the idea of having kits.

Settling down and having a family had never seemed that appealing to him before; he honestly didn’t think he was cut out for it—especially considering his father had left when he was so young. That is, until he had found himself absentmindedly wondering what he and Judy’s kits would look like. Since then, it seemed he couldn’t imagine a future with Judy that _didn’t_ involve kits.

“So tell me about it. Are we going to have four hundred kits like your parents?” he asked.

He was joking of course, but part of him was worried she might say yes.

“Gosh, no,” she answered immediately, “As much as I love having a big family, I do not want that many kits. Besides, a big family like that wouldn’t work in the city.”

“Then how many do you want?” he asked her.

“I’ve always thought of having just one litter—so somewhere between two and fourteenish—and then maybe adopting a few and getting them out of the foster-care system,” she told him.

Her eyes shined as she talked about the future—their future. She wanted to raise potentially fourteen-plus kits with _him_. He felt both overjoyed and terrified by that.

He also loved that she wanted to adopt kits from the foster care system—especially considering that he had spent six years in the system after his mom had passed away.

Nick hugged her closer to his body and kissed the top of her head.

“What was that for?” she asked.

“You read my file, you know I was in the foster care system,” he said, tracing the tip of his claw down her arm.

She nodded.

“I was a teenager, and, on top of that, I was a fox, so people didn’t exactly want me. I know you saw that one domestic incident report in my file,” he looked at her and she nodded, “that’s from me punching one of my foster dads in the face after he tried to…” Nick trailed off.

He was silent for a brief second, ugly memories rising to the surface.

“I was sixteen—” he started again.

“You don’t have to tell me,” Judy told him. She had been curious about the report, but she didn’t want him to tell her if it made him feel uncomfortable.

“I know. It’s okay,” he assured her, he wanted her to know—it was the only thing about his life that he hadn’t told her. In fact, he had never told anyone.

“I was sixteen. I had already been in five foster families and they were having a hard time just finding anyone who would take me. They stuck me with this moose family. At first, all he would do was smack me around, but that had happened at all the other foster homes too, so I was used to it. Then one night,” Nick swallowed, and took a deep breath, “He had had a huge fight with his wife. I heard it from my room. Then she drove off and it was quiet so I decided to go to bed. I think it was a few hours later, because I was asleep when my bedroom door opened. I thought it was their son because we shared a room, but then I saw how tall he was. He had me pinned down before I could even do anything, then he started trying to…then he started trying to take off my boxers,” Nick didn’t look at her, “I landed one lucky elbow in his nose and it gave me a chance to run away.”

He had never felt so powerless in his life. Sometimes it still gave him nightmares. He hadn’t gone back to that house, he didn’t get any of his stuff. He slept under a bridge until the court and social services found him and stuck him in a different foster family.

“I just,” Nick cleared his throat, “I just really appreciate the fact that you want to take kids out of there…it’s amazing, Carrots. _You’re_ amazing.”

“So are you,” she hugged him burying her face in his chest, “I’m sorry you’ve had to go through so much pain. You deserve so much better.”

“That’s why I have you,” he told her. She smiled and buried her face in his chest.

“And you always will,” she assured him, “Regardless of whether or not we up break, you will always be my partner and my best friend.”

Her assurance meant everything to him. Permanence had never been a feature of his life. His dad had left, his mom had died, none of his twenty-three foster homes had ever stuck, he had been evicted from multiple apartments, and, until now, he never could hold down a real job.

But here was Judy, laying naked next to him in bed, resting her head on his chest—somehow that made all the rest okay.

It reminded Nick of something he had been told once during his first and only time on a boat. He remembered he had gotten horrible sea-sickness and the captain advised him to focus on a stable object—Judy was his stable object.

After a few minutes, he could hear her snoring and he soon fell asleep too.

* * *

The next morning, they had to go to work again.

Nick woke up first, got dressed, and heated up some of the carrot bread he had bought the day before at the market. The smell of the bread had woken her up, drawing her out into the living room.

“Morning,” Judy said, walking out of his room stark naked.

He was a little taken off guard.

“What? My clothes are in my purse and it’s not like you haven’t already seen me naked,” she said, putting a little extra movement into her hips as she grabbed her purse off the couch and pulled out her uniform.

She looked at the clock, it was 8:05. They had slept later than the first time because they didn’t need to stop by her apartment or get the cruiser since Nick was the one to drive it home after work. Unfortunately, that didn’t leave her with enough time to take a shower because work started at nine.

She walked into the bathroom and got dressed, washing off yesterday’s makeup and touching it up with the mascara and lipstick she had brought, before sitting at the breakfast table with Nick.

She spread some butter on her carrot bread and dusted the top with cinnamon sugar. It was still warm when she bit into it, the butter melting in her mouth and the cinnamon enhancing the taste.

They left shortly after that, climbing into the cruiser and driving to the station.

They walked in with fifteen minutes to spare and every eye in the building suddenly focused on them.

Benjamin Clawhauser’s eyes widened and he squealed in glee.

“OMgoodness, Chief, you owe me twenty bucks!!” Clawhauser called.

“Crap,” Judy muttered. She knew she should have taken a shower. Nick should have taken one too, their scents were all over each other and they probably smelled like sex too, she hadn’t noticed it this morning—she’d probably gotten used to it, but now everyone in the precinct knew they were together.

Nick sighed. He didn’t really care that they all knew, they were their friends after all, but he cared that Judy didn’t get a chance to tell people when she was ready.

“Should we give the people what they want?” Nick asked, extending her paw for her to hold.

“Yeah,” she agreed interlacing her fingers with his, “Let’s do this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!! Be sure to let me know what you thought!!
> 
> Love y'all!!


	4. Chapter 4

“You haven’t stopped fidgeting since we got on the train,” Nick pointed out.

“I know, I know,” she replied, “I’m just a little nervous.”

“We don’t have to tell them, if you don’t want to,” he said, placing his paw on hers.

“I _want_ to tell them,” she insisted, “I just have to wait for the right moment.”

She and Nick had been dating for a little over six months by this point. They had bought a two-bedroom apartment together (though they only used one of the rooms), and all their friends and co-workers knew they were together. They hadn’t yet gone fully public with their relationship because Judy hadn’t wanted the media storm to tell her parents before she could. After this weekend, there would be no sense in hiding anymore.

“Are you saying you want to be subtle about this, because I was thinking we should just have sex on the dining room table,” he joked.

“Nick, I’m _serious_. My parents are probably not going to take this well. They might say some…really awful things, and I don’t want you to get hurt,” she said.

Even though her parents had moved passed _some_ of their bigotry of foxes through their dealings with Gideon, she knew that them accepting him as her partner and them accepting him as her _boyfriend_ , were two totally different things—and she wasn’t even sure they had accepted him as her partner yet.

“Hey, Carrots,” he took her paw, “I’m fine. _You’re_ all that matters to me, not what your parents or anyone else thinks.”

She rested her head on his chest.

“I love you,” she told him.

He kissed the top of her head, “I love you too.”

“We are now arriving in _Bunny Burrow_ ,” the automated intercom system announced.

“You ready?” she asked him.

“As long as you are,” he replied as the two of them walked off the train.

They had already agreed that they wouldn’t act like a couple until Judy worked up the courage to tell her parents they were dating. She would introduce him as her partner.

“Oh don’t worry about me, I’ve got the bags,” Nick said melodramatically, “What the hell do you have in here? I think it weighs more than you do?”

In her somewhat-anxiety-induced-haste she had forgotten to grab the luggage.

“Sorry,” she smiled sheepishly, “Let me help you with that,” she took her suitcase from him.

Nick was constantly baffled by how strong she was. She lifted the suitcase with no effort whatsoever. They had both gone through the same training, so, arguably, he should be as strong as she was, but he wasn’t—not by a long shot.

The train station was only about a five-minute walk from her family farm.

Nick was actually a little more nervous than he let on as he toyed with the box in his pocket. He planned to ask her parents’ permission to marry her. Regardless of what her they said, he would still be proposing, but he knew Judy would be happier with her parents’ approval—he would too.

As they walked he noticed a few rabbits cross to the other side of the road when they saw him. He wasn’t surprised; this it was a close-knit, country town; prejudice came with the territory. Judy didn’t notice, or maybe she just hadn’t realized why they had crossed the road.

After a few minutes, they approached a white gate—not a little picket fence—the ornate kind that tend to enclose estates, complete with little spikes at the top which—Nick noticed upon further inspection—were made to look like carrots. There was a large “H” adorning the center of the gate, denoting that this was indeed the Hopps residence.

A matching white fence seemed to go on for miles in either direction.

“Swanky place, Carrots,” Nice teased, out of the corner of his eye he saw Judy smirk.

In comparison to the extensive lawns, the house seemed quite modest, just a simple-looking cottage on the side of a hill.

Or, at least that’s what he thought until Judy opened up the front door.

As it turned out, the house _was_ the hill. It had been carved out of the inside and it was huge. Though, considering she has 482 siblings, he supposed that wasn’t surprising.

The burrow reminded him of his grandma’s house—also a burrow, though hers had been much, much, smaller. But it smelled similar, like dirt and home cooking.

“Mom, Dad,” Judy called.

Nick wondered how anyone could hear her calling in this giant house.

Then he heard it. A low rumble at first, then louder, until suddenly the two of them were overrun by hundreds of smaller rabbits.

“Judy!!!” they all screamed in unison, jumping up and down, all trying to reach their sister.

Judy had missed them all so much, she called them out by name and hugged as many as she could get to. Nick wondered how she could keep all their names straight.

Then the swarm of gray fur turned on him.

There was a brief second of silence.

“Is that him?” he heard a voice whisper.

“I didn’t know he was a fox,” came another.

“Everyone, this is Nick,” Judy introduced him, that seemed to snap them out of it and they all charged him at once.

“Hi Nick!”

“Hi Nick”

“Hi Nick!!”

“It’s nice to meet you!”

“Judy’s always talking about you.”

“OMG your tail is soo fluffy!!”

“I want to pet it! I want to pet it!”

“Judy!!” he heard a new voice and a woman he’s assumed was her mother, pushed through the crowd to hug her daughter.

“Hi, mom,” Judy embraced her mother back, “This is my partner, Nick.”

“Of course! I’ve heard so much about you,” she shook his hand, “It’s nice to finally meet you. You’re all Judy ever talks about.”

“It’s nice to meet you too, Mrs. Hopps,” he replied.

“Jonah, can you take Nick and Judy’s things to their rooms, please?” Mrs. Hopps asked one of her sons.

The bunny, who looked about fifteen years old—but had more muscle than Nick did—took their bags and walked down one of the maze-like corridors.

“You’ll be staying in one of the guest rooms,” Judy’s mom explained.

“Consider yourself lucky,” Judy muttered under her breath, “I have to share my old room with seven of my younger sisters.”

“You’re the one who wanted to spend the weekend, Carrots,” he chuckled.

“So! I made some pie, help yourselves, I’m sure you’re both hungry after that long train ride,” Judy’s mom said as they walked into the kitchen, “Judy, your father should be home any minute. And dinner will be ready in a few hours.”

Judy cut herself and Nick each a slice of blueberry pie.

“Absolutely, delicious, Mrs. Hopps,” Nick told her.

“Why thank you, Nick,” she smiled.

“Jude the dude!!” came Judy’s father’s voice as he ran into the room and embraced her, “Good to see ya kid.”

“Good to see you too, dad. This is Nick,” she introduced him.

“He---eeeey, you’re a lot um…taller than I was expecting,” her dad said, quite obviously faking a smile.

“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Hopps,” Nick extended his hand.

Judy’s dad cautiously shook the fox’s hand.

“Um, Judy, maybe you should give Nick a tour of the house,” her mother suggested.

“Sure, mom,” Judy agreed and motioned for Nick to follow her out the side door.

When they rounded the corner Nick opened his mouth to speak but she clamped a paw over his mouth and pointed at the kitchen door, indicating that she wanted to eavesdrop on her parents. Nick nodded and the pair inched towards the open door frame, craning their ears to hear.

“You didn’t tell me he was a fox,” her dad said to her mom.

“I didn’t think it was necessary,” she replied.

“Not necessary? You don’t think it was necessary for me to know that my daughter has been spending half a year with a fox?” he asked her.

“You’re okay with Gideon,” she pointed out.

“I do business with Gideon. I only see him twice a month. He’s not spending every waking hour working alongside my daughter!” her dad exclaimed.

 _‘Waking hour, sleeping hour. Every hour,’_ Nick thought sarcastically.

“Nick seems nice,” her mother pointed out, “He’s been nothing but polite since he walked in here.”

“Sure he’s polite around us. But he could very well be stealing from us as we speak,” her dad countered.

“Stu, that’s enough! Judy trusts him enough to protect her with his life, and she’s close enough with him that she wanted him to meet us, the least we can do is show him some respect,” her mom argued sternly.

“You don’t think they’re _dating_ do you?” he asked.

“Oh Stu!” her mom exclaimed.

“No, no, I’ve heard about things like that happening in big cities like Zootopia,” he said, “What if they’re dating?”

Part of Judy wanted to march right in there and say “so what if we are?” the other part of her was too upset. Her ears had drooped and her shoulders sagged. The worst part was that Nick had heard all of that too and she felt horrible for him.

“I’m sure they’re not dating…” her mother said, trailing off.

Judy grabbed Nick’s paw and pulled him down a hallway.

“Nick, I’m so sorry,” she said, tears in her eyes.

“Hey, it’s not your fault,” he told her, wiping away a tear that had started to roll down her cheek.

“It was my idea to come here,” her lip quivered, “You don’t deserve to have people talk about you like that. Not even my parents.”

He pulled her into a hug.

“Do you think we should just leave?” Judy asked him.

“I can stick it out if you can,” he assured her, “It’s not like I haven’t heard worse. Plus, they haven’t gotten to know me yet, maybe it will get better.”

“You sure you want to stay?” she asked.

“Positive, now come on, give me that tour of your mansion,” he said.

* * *

The hills in this area, Judy had explained, were made from volcanic rock and compressed ash from nearby Mt. Cottontail, which, not only made for fertile soil, but was also easy to carve into to make the burrows.

He had lost count of the number of rooms after he reached thirty-two.

Most of the rooms were bedrooms because Judy’s home not only housed her siblings, but also her grandparents, a few extended family members, and the families of some of her siblings that had gotten married and moved back in. He also saw at least six recreation rooms, seven separate dining areas and a library.

Nothing in the house was expensive. Nothing in the house was designer. Nothing in the house was new. Every piece of furniture seemed to be homemade and thoroughly used. There were next to zero decorations aside from family pictures—of which there were thousands.

Judy explained how everyone living in the house all does their fair share of the work and upkeep, which was why they could sustain so many people the way they did.

“And this is your room from the weekend,” Judy said, swinging open the door.

The room was nice, nothing luxurious—not that Nick had ever had anything luxurious in his life. A simple, small, bed with a homemade quilt draped over top, and a carved maple headboard that matched the dresser in the corner. At the foot of the bed was a wooden chest made of old pallets, filled with more blankets. A pair of clean towels were on the bed. A door to his left led into a small bathroom.

“You want to stay in here with me tonight,” Nick grinned, pulling her close.

“Mmm,” Judy closed the bedroom door, and wrapped her arms around Nick’s neck, pulling him in for a kiss.

“I love you,” Nick said.

“I love you too,” she replied, pulling away from the kiss.

He pulled her back in.

“Niiiick,” she complained, half-heartedly, “If we stay in here too long it will get suspicious.”

He kissed her again. She smiled against his lips and kissed him for several more minutes.

“Okay, _now,_ we should go,” Judy insisted, pulling him towards the door.

This time he let her.

She led him to yet another recreation area where some of her siblings were watching TV.

“Mind if we join you?” Judy asked them.

The three older boys shrugged and barely looked up from their video game while the little girl squealed in delight, ran over, and pulled them both the couch.

“Sit by me!” she said.

“What’s you name?” Nick asked the kit.

“Kary,” the girl beamed.

“Nice to meet you, Carly,” he smirked.

“ _Kary,”_ she insisted.

“Kara?”

 “ _Kary,_ ” she said again. By now the girl had caught on to the fact that he was joking with him.

“Carrie?”

“ _Kary,_ ” she giggled.

“Charlie?”

“ _Kary,_ _Kary, Kary, Kary._ KARY,” she announced.

“ _Ohh_ ,” Nick said finally, “ _Kary._ ”

Kary looked pleased that she had gotten him to say her name correctly.

Judy smiled to herself at seeing him interact with her little sister like this. It made her think about what it might be like if they ever had kits.

“Can I pet your tail?” she asked. He shifted his position and unfurled his tail across Kary’s lap.

“It’s so fluffy!” she exclaimed and buried her face in it. Nick used the tip of his tail to tickle her under the chin.

“Stop, that tickles!” Kary giggled, “Ooh!” she said her eyes going wide momentarily, “I have an idea, I’ll be right back!” she ran off down the hall.

A few seconds later Kary rushed back into the room, a plastic box in her paws.

She opened the latch on the box, and revealed a mess of different fur accessories.

“Pink or blue ribbons?” Kary asked Nick, holding them both up.

“Oh, blue is definitely my color. Matches my police uniform,” Nick smirked, letting his tail fall limp in the young kit’s lap. The older boys shared a look at Nick’s comment.

Judy, who was having trouble containing her laughter, covered her mouth with her paw.

In no time at all, Kary had covered Nick’s tail in braids, bows, and clips.

Judy managed to snap a picture when she thought he wasn’t looking.

“I saw that, Carrots,” he gave her a smug glance out of the corner of his eye, “If you post that picture in the precinct group message I will never speak to you again.”

“Hmm, tempting,” she teased.

Nick opened his mouth to make a retort when Judy’s mom walked into the room.

“Dinner’s—oh,” she chuckled, “I see our little beautician found you.”

“She sure did,” Nick replied.

“Here, I’ll help you take those out,” Judy told him.

“And ruin the work of an _artiste_? Criminal,” he replied, Kary giggled, quite pleased with herself.

“Fine, suit yourself,” she said, turning to walk down the hall towards the dining room.

Judy’s mother looked between her daughter and Nick with a look on her face that Nick couldn’t quite interpret.

“C’mon Nick! Sit by me!!” Kary exclaimed pulling him by the paw.


	5. Chapter 5

The food was served buffet style, to be taken back to their seats. Nick ended up being seated between Judy and Kary, with Judy’s parents across from them.

“So, Nick, tell us about yourself,” Judy’s mom asked.

“I’m sure Judy has told you mostly everything,” Nick said with a glance at his girlfriend.

“Well she told us how you met and how you solved the nighthowler case, but we want to know about you,” Bonnie told him.

“What would you like to know?” he asked, only slightly uncomfortable, he wasn’t used to having people interested in his life.

“Tell us about your family,” she said.

“I’m afraid there’s not much to tell, my dad left my mother and I when I was four, and my mother died of cancer when I was twelve,” he answered.

“Oh,” she said, not having anticipated such a tragic backstory, “Do you have any siblings?”

“No, I was an only child. My mother got really sick when she had me, so after that they decided it was safer for her not to have any more kits,” he replied.

“Do you have a girlfriend?” she prodded again, hoping for some tidbit about his life that wasn’t so sad.

“Yes,” he smiled, resisting the urge to look at Judy and give them both away.

“How nice! How long have you two been dating?” she asked.

“A little over six months now,” he told her.

“How does she feel about you spending so much time with Judy?” her mom joked.

“She doesn’t mind, she and Judy have a lot in common, they get along very well,” he half-lied.

“I wish you two would have brought her, I would have loved to have met her!” she said.

“Well, she’s very dedicated to her work, it’s hard to pull her away sometimes,” Nick told her still thinly veiling the fact that he was talking about Judy.

“Another time then, maybe. Do you have any plans for marriage in the future?” she asked.

“Absolutely,” he grinned. Judy couldn’t help but blush a little, she hoped nobody had noticed.

“That’s so sweet! Now if only we could find Judy a—” she was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell ringing, “I’ll be right back,” she announced going to answer the door.

“Are you guys expecting anyone?” Judy asked.

Her father shrugged, just as confused as she was.

A few seconds later, Judy’s mom returned, followed by a bunny Judy hadn’t seen in years.

“Jimmy Hareing?” she asked. He seemed to have cleaned up since middle school, because the piercings and black leather had been replaced with khaki slacks and a button down shirt that had Tree-Mobile on the pocket.

He had never been the most attractive bunny and that hadn’t seemed to get any better since sixth grade—his nose was still too big for his face, and his eyes were too far apart.

“What are you doing here?” she asked. She had a suspicion why he was here and she gave her mother a skeptical look as he took the open seat on the opposite side of her.

“Your mom said you were in town and invited me to come for dinner,” he explained, “What have you been up to these days?”

 _‘And there it is,’_ Judy sighed.

This was so much like her mother. She was always trying to set her up with people, through this was the first time she had called one of her ex boyfriends. Nick wasn’t jealous, in fact, he was trying not to laugh. Judy had told him about her ex-boyfriends, and somehow, he had pictured “bad-boy” Jimmy Hareing slightly differently.

“I’m an officer with the ZPD,” she told him, “What about you?”

“I’m one of the IT guys at Tree-Mobile. Wow, so you actually did it, huh? You went and became a police officer like you always said you would. It’s so cool when female prey are able to make it in a male predator dominated field,” he said.

“Yeah…haha,” Judy replied awkwardly, “this is my partner, Nick.” she introduced him.

Jimmy leaned over Judy to shake Nick’s hand, forcing her to lean back a little in her chair.

“So how’d you get to be a cop, if you don’t mind my asking?” Jimmy asked Nick, still leaning slightly in Judy’s space.

“Well, actually, it was kind of Judy’s fault,” Nick said, “When she met me, she had just fallen for the con I had been working with a friend of mine—”

“Oh that makes more sense,” Jimmy said.

“Excuse me?” Nick asked as he and Judy turned to glare at Jimmy.

“So!” Judy’s mother interjected before a fight could break out between the two of them, “Jimmy, your mom tells me you were offered a job as senior technical associate. That’s exciting.”

“Yeah, they said that it was my exceptional intelligence that had gotten me the job,” Jimmy bragged.

Judy’s phone vibrated.

 _[Why did you date this guy?]_ Nick had texted her.

 _[I don’t know. I guess he seemed cooler in sixth grade]_ Judy sent back.

_[You’re not going to leave me for him are you ;P]_

_[Oh yeah, not sure what I like more, the sexism, the speciesism, the fact that he hasn’t shut up about his ‘intelligence’ for the past minute, or his giant nose]_

“And then he says—Stu, you’ll love this one—Okay, so why was the predator arrested for walking into the bank?” Jimmy asked, “They thought he was robbing it!”

If Nick hadn’t been there, her dad might have actually laughed, instead, both of her parents cast uneasy glances at Nick.

“That’s offensive,” Judy remarked before Nick got the chance.

“It was just a joke, and why are you getting so worked up about it? I would have thought your carnivore friend might have said something—”

At this, Nick stood up.

“Nice tail, pred,” Jimmy remarked at the ribbons Kary had braided into Nick’s fur, “You do that yourself?”

Jimmy was clearly baiting Nick, trying to get him to react, but if this actually came down to a real fight, Jimmy would lose in an instant and Nick would probably be arrested.

Judy was not about to let that happen.

“Nick, sit,” she told him, and her boyfriend did as he was told. “Jimmy,” she stood up, “Get out.”

She grabbed him under the arm the way she did with some of the criminals she brought in, and shoved him towards the door.

“Anybody ever told you you’re actually kind of strong for a girl?” Jimmy asked, “If I didn’t know any better I’d say you were actually trying to hurt me. I mean, I’m a man, so I doubt you could—”

Judy shoved him a little harder and he grimaced in pain.

“So, Judy, did you want to go out sometime?” Jimmy asked.

“No,” Judy answered immediately. She wondered if he was serious. Did he actually think that dinner had gone _well_ or something?

“Is it because of what I said about the fox—”

“The fox’s name is Nick,” Judy cut him off.

“I mean, I thought you of all people would understand where I’m coming from after what happened between you and Gideon,” he said.

“That was a long time ago, and I’ve since made up with Gideon,” Judy replied. By now they had reached the front door.

“Why are you so defensive of the fo—Nick? I mean yeah he’s your partner but it’s not like you’re dating him,” Jimmy said.

A smug smile spread across Judy’s face, “You sure about that?”

Jimmy’s eyes went wide.

“Wait—” was all he could make out before Judy shoved him out the door.

Judy walked back to the dining room.

“Mom, can I speak to you in the kitchen, please?” Judy crossed her arms.

Her mother followed.

“Why?” was all Judy could ask.

“I’m sorry, I know that was a disaster, but honey I’m just trying to look out for you. Judy, you’re almost twenty-five now, don’t you think it might be time to start looking for someone you can marry?” she asked.

“Mom—”

“I’m not saying you should get married this year or anything, but you probably want to be dating the guy or engaged for a few years before you get married, right?” she asked.

“Mom—”

“I mean unless you don’t want to get married,” her mother continued “Honey, if you’re a lesbian, it’s okay. We completely accept you, I mean twenty-two of your sisters are lesbians and—”

“Mom!” she exclaimed, “I’m not a lesbian, but I do already have a boyfriend.”

“You do? How come you haven’t told me? Why didn’t you bring him?” she asked.

Then, in a moment of either bravery or stupidity—Judy didn’t know which—she replied, “I did.” And walked out of the room.

‘ _That was a bad idea,’_ Judy thought to herself, taking her seat back at the table. She took Nick’s paw in her own under the table, they would both need the strength.

Kary, still sitting on the opposite side of Nick, noticed and her little eyes widened.

Nick had no idea what had just happened between Judy and her mother but he squeezed her paw encouragingly.

 _‘In five, four, three, two—_ ’ Judy thought and her mother came in in a tizzy. She walked around the table to whisper in her husband’s ear.

“Brace yourself,” Judy whispered under her breath and Nick squeezed her paw again.

“ _WHAT??!?!_ ” her father exclaimed, “You’re dating _him_?!”

A chorus of gasps and whispers spread down the table in an instant which quickly turned into a audible chatter.

“Yes,” Judy announced, maintaining her calm.

“What are you thinking, Judy! You two aren’t the same species! This is a predator-prey relationship for crying out loud!” he exclaimed.

“So what?” she asked, “We love each other, why does it matter?”

“It matters because it’s not natural, Judy!” he told her.

“Dad it’s—”

“…I’ll be in my office,” her dad said.

“Dad—” Judy called after him, standing up.

“No. Judy. I can’t even look at you right now,” her dad held up his paw and walked away.

“I suppose you want to disown me too, now?” Judy asked her mother.

“Judy, neither of us want to disown you, but you have to understand this is hard for us to come to terms with. A predator-prey relationship…it’s never been done. Your father will get over it, you just have to give him some time,” her mother said.

“Fine. Come on, Nick…Nick?” she looked around for her boyfriend, “Where did he go?”

Nick had actually taken the opportunity to track down her father. When he found the office he rapped on the door.

“Judy, I can’t talk to you about this right now,” he said.

Nick swallowed, ignoring his common sense, and pushed open the door, “Actually, it’s me.”

Stu scoffed, “I want to talk to _you_ even less.”

“Then maybe you can just listen,” Nick suggested.

Stu didn’t respond, but since that wasn’t exactly a “no” Nick continued.

“Judy is the most important thing in the world to me, I would do anything for her. I understand your concern—”

“Do you?” her dad interrupted, “When I was nineteen, I was on a trip to Zootopia. I was hit by a car and mugged at gun-point by five predators—three of whom were foxes. When Judy was five, Gideon, another fox, scratched up her face.”

“When I was eight, I was held down and muzzled by five prey. I was abused by more prey foster parents than I can count—some of whom were rabbits. But just because these things have happened to me doesn’t mean I hate or fear all prey,” Nick explained, “So when I say I understand your concern, I mean it. Judy makes me happier than I’ve been in years. I would die before I would let anyone hurt her, myself included. I love her, and she loves me too, and it would mean the world to her to have your support.”

He pulled the ring box out of his pocket and set it on the desk in front of Stu.

“Just to prove to you how seriously I take this,” Nick said, stepping back.

Stu opened the box and examined the ring. It wasn’t much, he couldn’t afford much, but he did know she would love it—it was a little quarter carat diamond, the band was styled to look like a vine and leaves, but the metal of the leaves was cut in such a way that it sparked almost like there were more jewels on it.

“You don’t deserve her,” her father said.

“I know that. But I’m prepared to spend the rest of my life trying to be the man she deserves,” Nick told him, “So what do you say? Do we have your blessing?”

* * *

Back in the dining room, Judy was still looking for Nick.

“Did you check his room?” her mom asked.

“Yes,” Judy replied.

“Did you check the kitchen?”

“Yes!”

“Do you think he just left?”

“He wouldn’t do that. I’m sure he’s around here somewhere,” Judy said.

Suddenly Nick rounded the corner.

“Where were you, I was looking everywhere for you!” Judy exclaimed, embracing Nick.

“Nick had a little chat with me,” her father said, coming from the same hallway, not a second later.

She hadn’t even thought to check the office. She never would have dreamed he would have gone in there, not with her father so steamed.

Nick was still alive, so that made her think that the chat had gone well.

“And?” she asked, looking to her father.

“And…it’s okay,” he sighed finally.

Judy embraced her father, “Thanks, Dad. That really means a lot.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!!!
> 
> Love y'all!!


	6. Chapter 6

“Public scandal tonight as Officer Judy Hopps, the ZPD’s first rabbit officer, posted a picture on her fan page of her and her fox partner, Nick Wilde with the caption: My partner, my best friend, my boyfriend. Love this man!! With the hashtag, #No More Hiding. The announcement has stirred controversy in Zootopia—”

“Judy, just turn it off,” Nick told her.

He had been watching her expressions as she had flipped between every news channel their cable company offered—they all were saying the same things—and she was only becoming more upset.

Judy sighed but listened to her concerned boyfriend and shut off the TV.

She had posted that picture and caption on all of her social media accounts the second they had gotten off the train from her parent’s house, and it was all the media had been able to talk about.

Not thirty seconds after she had posted it, PM’s and posts came pouring in.

Many of them were positive.

Many of them were not.

Judy and Nick had known this would happen, but it didn’t make it any easier to deal with.

He sat down next to her on the couch, wrapping his arms around her shoulders.

“I wish it didn’t have to be so hard,” she sighed.

“Me too,” he agreed. His backlash would probably be worse than hers. With her, they didn’t respect her decision, with him, they didn’t trust him enough to be with her, “It’s all going to be okay, Carrots.”

The engagement ring was still in his pocket. He hadn’t had a chance to propose yet, and now he wondered if he ever would. While the two of them getting married wasn’t technically illegal, it would likely make everything much worse. People might start protests; people might even try to get legislation passed to make it harder for them.

Suddenly Judy’s phone started ringing.

“Hello,” she answered half-heartedly. She and Nick had already gotten several rude phone calls from unknown numbers and she was hoping this wasn’t another one.

“Hi, may I speak to Judy Hopps?” Nick could hear a cheerful voice respond on the other end of the phone.

“This is she,” Judy replied.

“Oh good! This is Claire Dane from Rachel Rabbit’s office. I was wondering if it would be possible to schedule an interview with you and your boyfriend tomorrow during our morning show,” she said.

Rachel Rabbit was probably one of the biggest names in media in Zootopia. She had had interviews with everyone from the most popular bands to the president. Judy had been contacted about an interview after the night howlers press conference, but she had felt so guilty at the time, she declined to appear.

Not only was Rachel Rabbit the most famous talk-show host in Zootopia, she also three years older than Judy and had gone to the same high school as her. And while Rachel Rabbit had not known Judy during their one year in the same school, Judy had definitely known about her.

“Hold on, let me ask him,” she muted the call and looked at Nick, knowing he had heard every word.

“Do you want to?” was all he said.

“Do you have to say that about everything, your opinion matters too,” she told him.

“…I wouldn’t mind, I guess. It might give people a chance to see us in a different light and we can maybe do some damage control on the rumors,” he said, “But only if _you_ want to do it.”

Judy nodded, took a deep breath, and un-muted the phone-call.

“We’ll be there,” Judy said.

“Great!” Claire replied, “We look forward to having you on the show. You can come down to the studio at 6am tomorrow morning.”

“Okay, see you then,” Judy told her.

“See you,” Claire said hanging up the phone.

Unfortunately, that meant that they would be spending one of their only days off that week waking up early and answering questions in front of a live studio audience.

“We have to get up early tomorrow, so we should probably go to bed,” Judy sighed, glancing at the clock which read 11:30pm.

“Alright, Carrots,” Nick kissed the top of her head before easily scooping her up in his arms and carrying her to their room.

* * *

“Carrots, have you seen my blue and purple tie?” Nick asked her the next morning as they were getting ready.

“Have you checked the laundry room?” she called back, having just gotten out of the shower.

“Why was it in the laundry room?” he asked.

“Because it needed washed,” she answered, “Honestly, Nick, have you _ever_ washed that thing?”

“No, because it’s my lucky tie. You don’t wash a man’s lucky tie, that takes away all the luck,” he told her. It was also now untied for the first time in twenty years so there was a very noticeable crease and some fading.

“How much luck has it actually brought you?” she asked, coming out of their room dressed in a conservative blouse, skirt and cardigan.

“It brought me you,” he grinned at her.

She couldn’t help but smile at that, “Here, let me tie it for you.”

“You ready?” he asked after she had slipped it over his head again.

“As I’ll ever be, I guess,” Judy sighed, “Let’s go.”

They walked out the front door of their apartment, only to find that PRED LOVER had been spray-painted on their door in neon orange.

“We’ll deal with it later, Carrots. We’re going to be late,” Nick assured her, putting a paw on her shoulder. Meanwhile, she was steaming—they should be able to love each other without backlash. They weren’t hurting anyone, they weren’t affecting anyone, there was no reason anyone should react this way!

“Yeah, okay,” she huffed finally. There wasn’t much they could do about it at this very moment anyway.

They arrived at the studio twenty minutes later.

“Hi, I’m Claire, we spoke on the phone,” they were greeted by a harlequin great dane in a blue dress and glasses when they arrived, “It’s such a pleasure to meet both of you,” she shook their paws, “I just wanted to say that…no matter what people have been saying, I think it’s really great that y’all went public with your relationship.”

“Thank you,” Judy said.

Nick wondered who Claire was in a relationship with, largely because the only public support that they had been getting so far was from people in their own—mostly closeted—interspecies relationships.

Claire led them to fur and makeup which didn’t end up taking as long as Nick would have though before bringing them backstage.

“This is where all the magic happens,” she told them. In front of the was the interview stage set, which had always looked much bigger on TV. The seats for the live studio audience had not yet been filled yet but he was sure they would be by the time the show started.

He managed to grab two glazed donuts and two cups of coffee for himself and Judy from a table nearby. Neither of them had eaten breakfast that morning and he knew Judy would need something to tide her over.

“Thanks,” she smiled at him, taking the cup and the pastry before proceeding to dump three packets of sugar in her coffee. He wrinkled his nose, he didn’t know how she could drink it like that.

“Y’all are so cute,” Claire remarked at the exchange.

“Judy Hopps!!” a high-pitched voice sounded through the place, “It’s so nice to meet you—well officially that is. I know we went to the same high school and I dated one of your older brothers so it’s like I already know you!” the tan-colored rabbit hugged her. Judy was a little taken aback.

“And you must be Nick,” she said, although, he noted, not with near enough enthusiasm as she had had two seconds prior.

“Nice to meet you,” Nick said with false sincerity, shaking her paw.

“Okay, we’re on in two. I’ll go on the stage, do my little welcome spiel, and when I introduce you two, that’s your cue to walk in—holding paws—you should walk in holding paws,” Rachel decided for them.

“Rachel, get in position,” the producer told her.

“That’s my cue! See you out there,” she said before walking away.

The studio audience was now full and they cheered loudly as Rachel Rabbit’s theme music played and she entered the stage from one of the doors in the back of the set.

“Hello everybody and welcome to the Rachel Rabbit morning show, we’ve got a special show for you this morning. In our first segment, we’re sitting down with Zootopia’s most controversial couple to talk about their relationship, then we’ve got fifty tips to help spice up your leftovers and the hottest fall fashions. So, without further ado, let’s bring out our guests, Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde,” she gestured to the side stage where Nick and Judy entered from—holding paws—awkwardly taking their seats on the couch across from Rachel.

The audience was cheering, Nick hoped that was a good sign.

“Welcome to the show you two,” she told them.

“Thank you, it’s good to be here,” Judy lied smoothly.

“So, Judy, yesterday you made quite the announcement on all of your social media accounts and, since then, hundreds of interspecies couples have posted similar pictures under the same hashtag. Tell us, what made you decide to come out of hiding with your relationship?” Rachel asked.

Judy glanced at Nick, “Well, all of our friends already knew by that point and we had just gotten back from telling my family, so we didn’t feel like there was any need to keep it a secret anymore.”

“Ooh, telling the folks. How’d they take it?” Rachel asked.

Judy chuckled nervously, “Well, they freaked out a little at first, but they got over it.”

“Well, that’s good, at least you have your family’s support. What about you, Nick, how did your family take the news that you were dating Judy?”

“Well, I don’t really have any family, my dad left when I was a kit and my mom died when I was twelve,” he told her.

“That’s too bad. How do you think they would have reacted?” she asked.

“My mom would have loved Judy, I just know they would have gotten along really well,” Nick said.

Rachel smiled a tight smile that implied that that hadn’t quite been the answer she was looking for. She probably wanted something with more drama.

“So how’d you two get together?” Rachel asked.

“Well, we had been close since the first night howler case I had dragged him on,” Judy chuckled, “We talked all the time, did movie nights, that kind of thing. And then when he went away to training we talked on the phone every night, but we didn’t really get together until the day he received his badge,” Judy started.

“All of the officers had gone out to a bar to celebrate. Judy and I were there the latest, and then I decided to walk her home. When I was saying goodnight to her I kissed her,” Nick admitted sheepishly.

“And then he _freaked out_ and said goodnight and _ran_ away,” Judy giggled, “I was so mad. I couldn’t believe he had just run away like that so I went to his apartment—”

“You _marched_ to my apartment in _a rage_! She was completely ready to chew me out—” Nick interrupted.

“But!” Judy interrupted, “But, then he confessed that he was in love with me and I realized I was in love with him, and,” she smiled at him, once again taking his paw in hers, “The rest is history, I guess.”

There were a few aww’s from the audience.

“That’s sweet,” Rachel commented, “So the question everybody is wondering is—well, there’s quite a bit of a size difference between you two. So how does that work? Does everything…fit?”

There was laughter from the audience, but Nick knew they were actually intrigued.

“It hasn’t been a problem,” Judy answered simply with the faintest hint of a smirk. She wasn’t pleased to be talking about her sex life on national TV, but she wasn’t about to let anybody know that.

A chorus of “OOooOOOOoooooohh’s” sounded from the audience.

“Well, I guess that answers that question,” Rachel said, sounding a little dissapointed that Judy hadn’t reacted in a more embarrassed way, “Now that you guys have started paving the way for interspecies couples and even more predator-prey relationships. Opponents to interspecies relationships have started saying things like ‘it will lead to more abuse in relationships because predator’s will have such an obvious advantage over their prey partners’ what are your thoughts on that?”

“I think that’s absolutely ridiculous,” Judy scoffed, “Just because someone is a predator, does not mean that they will hurt anyone else. Nick would never, _ever_ , hurt me. I trust him with my life on a regular basis, and I also trust him with my heart,” she leaned her head on him and he kissed the top of her head, but Judy wasn’t done yet, “Also, implying that predators will abuse their prey partners ignores the fact that there can also be prey abusers and predator victims.”

“And, on top of casting a negative light on predator’s, it casts prey as inherently weak, which is not true by any means. Judy is the strongest person I know. Both mentally and physically—she could absolutely kick my ass if she wanted to,” Nick said and the audience laughed.

“He’s right,” Judy acknowledged under her breath, but loud enough that the microphone pinned to her shirt picked it up and the audience laughed again.

“Interspecies relationships also open up questions about marriage and kits, are those things you guys have considered?” Rachel asked.

“Yes,” Nick and Judy said in unison before Judy added, “It’s definitely something we’ve talked about.”

Nick suddenly got an idea.

“In fact,” he said, kneeling in front of her and pulling out the ring he hadn’t taken off his person since the day he bought it.

Judy had covered her mouth with both of her paws, completely surprised by the sudden proposal.

“I’ve been wanting to do this for a while and now seems as good a time as any,” Nick grinned, “I want everyone watching to know how devoted I am to you. You are my whole world and my everything. You have pushed me to do things I never thought I could do and you make me a better man. I love you, Judy. And I want to spend the rest of my life making you happy. Judy Hopps, will you marry me?”

By now Judy was crying happy tears.

“Of course! Of course, I’ll marry you,” she exclaimed, giggling through the tears. She put her paws under his chin, tilting it up so she could kiss him. He put the ring on her finger.

There was a brief silence in the audience before the cheering began, until it was a loud roar.

“You made me cry on national TV, you dumb fox,” she laughed, wiping away the tears as he sat next to her on the couch. He wrapped his arm around her and wiped away a few stray tears with the sleeve of his shirt.

“But I’m _your_ dumb fox,” he grinned kissing her again, “Your dumb fox fiancé.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank y'all so much for reading!!! Let me know what you thought!!
> 
> Love y'all!!


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